


Misfeasance

by whimsicality



Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton, Roswell (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, Pack Dynamics, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-12-12
Packaged: 2017-12-18 04:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/875509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsicality/pseuds/whimsicality
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Misfeasance - the wrongful exercise of lawful authority. When the St. Louis pack proves unable or unwilling to deal with their reprehensible leaders, someone else steps in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For Roswell this is set either in an AU world or post-series. For Anita Blake, it's set during The Killing Dance.

_**Challenge** _

Richard watched silently as the man, who was almost as tall and broad as Richard himself, walked across the clearing, his power surrounding him like a cloak – not flaunted, just there, radiating out from him in waves of primal heat that every pack member could feel. His hair was tawny, a darker shade of blond than Marcus’s, and longer, the loose curls ending just above his shoulders and framing a strong face, currently empty of expression. His eyes were the color of burnt caramel and locked on the pack leader, although Richard could tell by the deceptively relaxed set of his shoulders that he was well aware of the exact position of every other shifter standing amongst the trees.

When he was maybe ten feet away from the stone chair that Marcus sat in, Raina lounging on the Ulfric’s lap while Sebastian and Jamil stood guard on either side, he stopped. There was a heavy silence, anticipation building as they waited for the stranger, the stranger who was undeniably an alpha, to speak. After a moment, he obliged them. “Greetings, Marcus Fletcher, Ulfric of the Thronnos Rokke pack.” Marcus regarded him stonily before acknowledging the greeting with a short nod. A faint smirk twisted one corner of the stranger’s mouth, before disappearing so quickly Richard thought he might have imagined it. “My name is Michael; I come before you because my mate and I wish to move to your territory.”

Silence reigned again. Michael seemed to feel no inclination to add to his stated reason for entering their lupanar, and Marcus remained unresponsive. Richard wasn’t surprised, he had already been declared Freki, the tensions in their pack, in the entire shifter community, were running high, and the man, the wolf, standing before them, was equally as powerful, the only wolf Richard had ever come across who matched his own strength. Welcoming him into their pack almost guaranteed a future challenge. Refusing would be grounds to challenge Marcus now, should this Michael choose to do so.

In the end it was Raina, instead of either man, who spoke first. She rose to her feet, oozing sex and danger as she stalked towards Michael, dark light burning in her eyes as she invaded his personal space, her power filling the clearing with its vicious taint. The man looked unimpressed, sparing her only a brief glance before returning his gaze to Marcus, neither moving closer to her, nor farther away, his power maintaining the same constant pulse. Anger flashed across Raina’s face at the dismissal, and she boldly traced her fingers down his chest, nails scraping across his cotton shirt. “Where is this mate you speak of? Is she, or _he_ , afraid to come before the Thronnos Rokke?” Her voice was derisive, intended to provoke, something she excelled at, but to Richard’s somewhat pleased surprise, she failed.

Michael merely looked back down at her, one eyebrow raised, and replied in a calm, steady voice. “My mate is working; if the Ulfric chooses to allow us to remain in St. Louis, she will be happy to present herself to the pack.”

“Was this not important enough to leave work?” Raina hissed scornfully, her beautiful face twisting with anger and offense that Richard knew she did not truly feel.

The man chose not to reply, instead returning his steady gaze to Marcus, appearing perfectly serene, although Richard could sense the coiled tension lurking beneath his skin. He found himself hoping that Marcus said yes. While strong, the other wolf was clearly not aggressive, nor prone to playing the sort of games that Raina and Marcus loved. If a fight was inevitable, it would be nice to have another wolf he could actually trust at his back. 

Raina snarled and slunk her way back to Marcus, bending down and whispering something in his ear before flicking her gaze over the restless pack. “Clearly this stranger and his mate do not respect us; they are not worthy of being Thronnos Rokke.” Marcus looked resigned as she spoke and Richard cursed her poison tongue. She wanted a challenge, she wanted to watch the pain and blood and death, and he doubted she cared if Marcus lived or died, although if it suited her plans, he also had no doubt that she would interfere to ensure his survival.

Marcus stood, gathering his own power about him until the air vibrated with the strength of it. It wasn’t enough to overwhelm the stranger’s, not nearly. “Your request is denied; you are not welcome in Thronnos Rokke territory.” The words fell into the clearing like stones in a still pond as all the wolves, excluding Marcus, Raina, Richard, and Michael, shifted restlessly.

Michael bowed his head, and smiled. Dread spooled in Richard’s gut, his muscles tightening as his beast sensed the impending violence and called for blood. “Then I challenge you, Marcus Fletcher, Ulfric of the Thronnos Rokke clan.” He lifted his head, smile widening as his gaze shifted to Raina, who sported a look of smug satisfaction. “Your lupa is correct, we do not respect you.” Raina growled and Marcus looked surprised while angry murmurs swept through the pack. “You are a weak Ulfric. You allow yourself to be ruled by an insane Lupa. You do not serve your pack.”

Shocked silence took over the lupanar as the angry murmurs and restless twitching died away. No one spoke to defend against the stranger’s accusations, and Richard felt an unwelcome sense of shame, finally allowing himself to wonder if it would have been better to surrender his morals and kill Marcus before it came to this, to a stranger doing for his pack what he could not.

Raina’s face was expressing true fury for once, and Marcus looked both tired and angry as he stepped down from his throne and onto the soft dirt of the forest floor.

“I accept your challenge.”


	2. Chapter 2

**_Coup D’état_ **

The two men began to slowly circle one another, Michael casually tearing off his grey cotton shirt and revealing rippling, toned golden flesh, proving he outshone Marcus in height and bulk, although not necessarily killer instinct as Richard knew all too well. Angry shouting reached Richard’s ears before the confrontation progressed any further, and he tore his gaze away from the impending fight to see Anita, looking intensely furious, bursting into the clearing with Edward, and a dark-haired woman he did not know at her side.

The three of them assessed the situation with one glance while the wolves largely ignored them, far more involved in the struggle of dominance over their pack than the intrusion of anyone else. Edward looked as calm and cool as he had since Richard met him, his attention equally divided between the challengers, the pack, and Raina. The other woman, who was an alpha at least as strong as Raina, Richard realized with a sudden shock, she was entirely focused on the stranger, who was still locked in a silent battle of wills with Marcus, neither man daring to look away while the challenge was unfinished.

Anita’s furious gaze lingered on the Ulfric and Lupa, although she spared Richard a brief, worried glance before glaring once more at Raina. “Raina!” she called sharply as her gaze shot back to the female werewolf, her gun appearing in her hands and her small frame practically vibrating with anger. “You put out a contract on me!”

Richard jerked, his beast clawing angrily inside his skin, snarling for the blood of anyone who threatened his mate.

The Lupa merely grinned, sauntering around the circling men, every line of her body tense with excitement. “Bravo, Anita, I wasn’t sure you would figure it out.”

Before Anita, whose face had darkened further with rage, could reply, the woman he did not know stepped smoothly in front of her, a cool smile on her face. “I must say, despite all the stories we’ve heard about you, I wasn’t expecting you to be so…pathetic.”

Raina’s face contorted angrily for a moment before relaxing into a nonchalant expression that did nothing to hide the hatred in her eyes. “And who might you be, little girl? Do you really think you are wolf enough to challenge me? Here, in front of my entire pack?”

The woman’s smile widened, her dark eyes lightening as gold spread across the iris. “I am Elizabeth, future Lupa of the Thronnos Rokke pack, and I’m not going to challenge you, I’m going to kill you.”

The lupa snarled, control snapping as she began to shift and lunged for the other woman’s throat at the same moment that Marcus broke the building tension between he and Michael. Elizabeth gracefully ducked Raina’s infuriated charge, creamy golden fur flowing over her skin as her fingers lengthened into curving claws, one hand catching in the other woman’s stomach and leaving four lines of bright red blood behind, the copper scent filling the clearing as the watching wolves groaned and shifted restlessly, eyes hot and hungry, eager for more blood to be shed.

Marcus and Michael were grappling, also half in wolf form, teeth and claws tearing at each other as tufts of fur and drops of blood fell to the ground around them. They seemed evenly matched at first glance, but then Michael twisted lethally and Marcus yelped as the other man hamstrung him with one neat slice. Raina, who had managed to keep Elizabeth from landing another blow, flinched at the sound, her concentration wavering and costing her an eye as the smaller woman scored a glancing blow across her face.

It didn’t take long after that, the precision and deadly grace of both the newcomers quickly overwhelming the Ulfric and Lupa until both challenges were ended with impossibly perfect synchronization, Michael’s powerful jaw’s tearing out Marcus’s throat at the same moment that his mate disemboweled Raina. Both strangers stood tall over the bodies of their defeated foes, eyes locked as satisfied growls rumbled in their throats. Growls that were answered in kind by every wolf present, even Richard, who barely spared his girlfriend a glance.

Only the two humans stood apart from the wolves, Anita shocked by the sudden violence and Edward stoic, although a careful observer might have noted a flicker of curiosity in his cold blue gaze when it rested on Elizabeth.

Thronnos Rokke had new leadership, who stood united in strength as the pack fed on the bodies of their old masters, the cycle of death and life blessing the transition as the thrumming power of the forest accepted their sacrifice of flesh and blood and the souls of the fallen.

Michael and Elizabeth exchanged cherry red, blood-coated smiles, and then a coppery, blood soaked kiss that was all teeth and tongue, while their new family howled around them.

They were home.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Alliance** _

Jean-Claude steepled his fingers, hiding his delight at the sheer amount of power radiating from the Ulfric and Lupa sitting on the other side of the desk, both gazing calmly back in his direction, while Anita shifted restlessly from her place leaning against the wall. Despite being grateful for the new Lupa’s assistance in saving her life and revealing Raina’s plan, his petite was not thrilled that these strangers had taken over the pack instead of Richard. It especially bothered her that the two of them were apparently in the same line of work as Edward, who refused to divulge what he knew of the pair’s past.

Richard, on the other hand, seemed almost relieved by the sudden change in power, and deep down Jean-Claude was glad that the third member of their triumvirate had not become Ulfric – perhaps it would be easier to make him accept the realities of the relationship between the three of them without that distraction.

Finally, the new Ulfric broke the silence. “As long as an alliance with you continues to benefit the pack and the stability of the preternatural community as a whole, we will maintain it. If not,” the larger man shrugged, a casual rippling of muscles under his plain grey t-shirt, and suddenly Jean-Claude could no longer detect either of the shifters sitting across from him with any sense other than his eyes, not even through his ability to call wolves.

The Lupa smiled, her dark eyes glinting merrily, and winked at him, then spoke in a soft and husky voice. “Any successful alliance should involve full disclosure of the capabilities of all parties. Or, at least most of them,” she clarified with a purring chuckle that sounded more like it came from one of his petite’s leopards than a wolf.

Jean-Claude laughed, a silvery sound that echoed through the air and made Anita shiver even as she continued to half-glare at the newcomers. “Ouí, ma loup da reine. I think our alliance shall do very well.” He swallowed his unease at the thought of what other powers the two might have, and how dangerous of opponents they could be, and focused instead on how much they added to his power base, and increased his likeliness of surviving the attentions of the Council, whom he knew had not forgotten the death of one of their members in his city.

For a moment shorter than a human breath he let himself wonder what would have been if it had not been Richard, if these two powerful mysteries had arrived in St. Louis sooner, let himself wonder about the possibility of a _qua_ rumvirate. But the moment passed and he smiled benevolently at them, knowing that his petite would never share with another woman, and that, while she might believe otherwise, there were limits to the amount of power he knew he could safely hold.

But in the world of reality and not fantasies, these two would help keep his petite, and his city, safe, and who knew what the future might bring. He would not grasp for more than he could hold, but he would not close his eyes to the possibilities either.


End file.
